Cardiff finish in the play-offs following a breathtaking final day of the Championship- Cardiff City 3-0 Hull City

Captain Sean Morrison heads in Cardiff’s second goal

A comfortable victory for the Bluebirds over Hull meant a fifth place finish in the league and the chance to get promoted to the Premier League through the play-offs.

Going into the final day, City needed a point to seal a place in the top six. Swansea were three points behind and Nottingham Forest were level on points. However, remarkably, the two teams from South Wales, Cardiff and Swansea, finished fifth and sixth respectively with Forest missing out on the play-offs.

As for the Cardiff game it was pretty comfortable throughout. First half goals from Junior Hoilett and Sean Morrison put the Bluebirds firmly in control, with Danny Ward coming off the bench to add a third.

Cardiff started the game strongly with Robert Glatzel having a couple of close effort. The first was a long-range strike which was saved by Hull goalkeeper George Long. The second was from a closer distance which he fired wide from an angle.

The first goal came in the 20th minute through Hoilett. He received the ball from a Joe Bennett header, before driving down the wing without being closed down and firing into the far corner. It was a very good finish.

Morrison doubled the lead in the 34th minute. It was very poor defending from Hull, leaving Morrison unmarked and he took advantage by heading high into the goal to double the lead.

There wasn’t much action during the second half with Cardiff managing the game well. Hull came close once but Morrison managed to block James Scott’s effort. It was brilliant defending from the skipper. Following that, Alex Smithies saved well from Mallik Wilks to preserve the clean sheet.

To round off the scoring, substitute Ward scored past Long after the keeper’s save from Bennett’s free-kick. The result was hardly in doubt throughout the whole game.

Hull struggled to find an intensity to threaten Cardiff, most probably because were realistically already relegated due to their inferior goal difference. That made it even more comfortable for the Bluebirds.

Following all the results, City will face fourth-placed Fulham, who finished the regular season with a 1-1 draw at Wigan. At the moment Wigan will be playing in League One alongside Hull next season unless they appeal successfully against their 12 point deduction for going into asministration. The other club to be relegated are Charlton who suffered a 4-0 loss at champions Leeds. It is harsh on Charlton who have had to try and overcome many obstacles this season, including plenty of injuries and losing their star man for the games after the break.

If the 12 point deduction to Wigan remains, Barnsley will be safe, having surprisingly won 2-1 at Brentford, who could’ve gone up automatically with a victory because of West Brom’s 2-2 draw at home to QPR. Barnsley finished one point above Charlton, while Brentford were two points adrift of West Brom and will face Swansea in the play-off semi-finals.

West Brom managed to hold on to second place to go up automatically, even though they didn’t manage to hit the ground running following the restart. Brentford has the opportunity to overtake them, but lost their last two games against Stoke and Barnsley and will have to settle for a place in the play-offs.

Before the match day it would’ve been sensible to predict that Nottingham Forest would’ve at least got something of their game at home to Stoke. But, what followed was extraordinary. Stoke had been fighting relegation for the majority of the season while on the other hand there was talk at one point of Forest challenging for automatic promotion.

But, in the end Stoke won 4-1 which coincided with Swansea’s 4-1 victory at Reading which meant that Forest fell out of the top six and Swansea replaced them. There needed to be a five goal swing for this to happen and that is what happened. It shows how competitive the Championship is, that anyone can beat anyone on their day and that nothing is guaranteed.

Going back to the bottom of the table and Luton Town, it has been an incredible effort for them to stay up. Nathan Jones returned to the club during the break and he has turned it around for them. Their final game was a 3-2 win over Blackburn at home. They have collected 16 points off their final 9 games to pull off what seemed impossible at one point.

Rounding up the other results by starting at St Andrews and Derby’s 3-1 victory over Birmingham. Birmingham finish two points above the relegation zone after a disappointing season while Derby finish in 10th. Star youngster Jude Bellingham played his final game for boyhood club Birmingham as he has completed a transfer to Borussia Dortmund. He was very emotional following the game.

Bristol City and Preston, who at one point were challenging for the top six, played out a 1-1 draw at Ashton Gate. Preston finish in 9th with Bristol City in 12th.

Millwall finished only two points off the play-offs following a 4-1 win over managerless Huddersfield, who have since appointed Leeds United assistant Carlos Corberan as their new head coach.

To finish it off, Middlesbrough secured their safety by beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 at Hillsborough.

It was a final day full of excitement, which was expected. The Championship is always full of action and this certainly proves that.

To finish the season there will be the play-offs. The first legs will be on the 26th and 27th of June and the second legs on the 29th and 30th of June. They are Swansea against Brentford and Cardiff against Fulham, with the possibility of a South Wales derby in the final. That would be nail-biting and probably too much to take for both sets of fans.

We will wait and see what happens in what should be a gripping play-offs.

Massive win for the Bluebirds over Derby- Cardiff City 2-1 Derby County

Cardiff’s Lee Tomlin celebrates his winner through showing support for ‘Black Lives Matter’

Lee Tomlin’s second-half goal gave Cardiff victory over Derby to end the run of consecutive defeats and to boost their play-off hopes.

It was a tough game against a strong Derby side and City went through periods with very little possession of the ball. However, it was Cardiff who took the lead through Junior Hoilett.

It came from Jason Knight’s very poor back-pass which was too short for the goalkeeper and allowed Hoilett to pounce, before rounding the keeper and slotting in to put City in front. Cardiff had been the better team from the start and deserved to be in front.

But, Derby gained control of the game soon after the goal and started to dictate the play. They managed to equalise in the 30th minute through Knight, who made amends for his shocking mistake for the opening goal.

It was very poor defending from Cardiff. Both Sean Morrison and Joe Bennett went to tackle Louie Sibley which left Knight free and Sibley was able to play the ball through for Knight to score.

From then on, Derby dominated possession and City struggled to have a touch of the ball. It was a tough watch for a period of the game. Whenever Cardiff got the ball they just gave it straight back to a Derby player. Derby weren’t really threatening but whenever they got near the box, the defenders hesitated to make a challenge.

Cardiff managed to get though to half-tome without conceding and managed to wrestle some sort of control back by the end of the half. Hoilett had a good effort saved as the Bluebirds ended the half strongly.

City were solid during the second half and managed to control the game. There weren’t many clear chances for either side until Tomlin fires in the winner. It came following a mistake from a Wayne Rooney. Tomlin tackled Rooney, who was too relaxed on the ball, and ran with the ball before finishing well into the bottom corner. It was a very good finish.

They had the chance to seal the win but Joe Ralls headed against the bar from substitute Danny Ward’s cross. It was a great chance to make sure of the victory but Ralls failed to take advantage. However, City held on for the win.

The defeat for Derby all but ends their play-off hopes as they are six points off Cardiff with an inferior goal difference. There would have to be a dramatic turnaround for them to make the top six.

On the other hand, the win for Cardiff strengthens their place in the top six. Following all the results from the midweek games there is a two-point cushion to Millwall in seventh. Millwall are still firmly in contention after overcoming Blackburn 1-0 through Mason Bennett’s goal. This result meant that Blackburn cannot mathematically finish in the top six.

It looks like it is a three-horse race between Cardiff, Millwall and Swansea. Swansea drew 2-2 at Nottingham Forest. They were twice pegged back by Sammy Ameobi after Rhian Brewster and then Andre Ayew had put them in the lead. They are now three points off the Bluebirds. Preston have dropped to five points behind City after losing 1-0 to automatic promotion hopefuls Brentford with Ollie Watkins scoring his 25th goal of the campaign.

Bristol City were frustrated by Stoke City with Danny Batth’s second half goal cancelling out Filip Benkovic’s opener to bring the Potters very close to safety.

It is still very tight in the race for the final place in the play-offs. The last two games for Cardiff will be tough against two teams are fighting against relegation. The first of those is a trip to Middlesbrough on Saturday. Boro are very close to being safe as they are five points clear of the relegation zone. Neil Warnock has had a good impact since becoming their manager and he will certainly provide a stern test for his former club. We will have to be at our best to get a positive result.

The following Wednesday the Bluebirds will take on Hull at the Cardiff City Stadium on the final day of the season. If City win both of those games they will end up in the top six. It is in their hands but they will need to be at their best.

As I have said before it will be an exciting end to the season as it always is in the Championship.

It will also be exciting in the race for automatic promotion. Following yesterday’s results, Brentford are only a point behind West Brom. Brentford beat Preston while West Brom drew 0-0 at home to fourth-placed Fulham who can still mathematically catch West Brom. The other team who occupy a place in the top six are Nottingham Forest.

We have a lot to look forward to in the next week and there is definitely a lot to play for.

Cardiff come out on top in the Severnside Derby- Bristol City 0-1 Cardiff City

The players celebrate the winning goal from Danny Ward

Danny Ward came off the bench to win the game for Cardiff and boost our hopes of making the play-offs, while all but ending Bristol City’s.

It was a game which missed the atmosphere of the fans to make it properly feel like a derby but it was still very competitive. It was hotly contested throughout but both teams lacked the quality to break through.

That was until Lee Tomlin and Ward game off the bench to link-up for the winner. Tomlin has shown his quality throughout the season and has been a massive asset. After holding off Bristol City substitute Benik Afobe he played the ball perfectly into Ward’s path, who finished first time past Daniel Bentley in the goal. It was an excellent finish.

Both teams struggled to create clear-cut chances. The closest either had come to scoring was when Cardiff’s Alex Smithies saved well from Bristol City’s Nakhi Wells’ volley which was heading for the bottom corner. Substitute Filip Benkovic also came close for the Robins, heading wide from a corner.

The Bluebirds were probably the better side during the first half, threatening from a couple of set-pieces. However, Bristol City managed to deal with the threat. Even though they were the better side they struggled to cause Bristol City much trouble.

Will Vaulks should’ve scored early on in the second half, but his high shot was saved by Bentley. He shouldn’t have given the keeper a chance by hitting it into the corner.

Bristol City started to come into the game and for a period Cardiff struggled to get forward. The goal came from Bristol City giving the ball away and they will be frustrated with this result.

They’ve been on shocking form since the return, losing all four games and falling nine points off the top six after being just a point off when the league returned to action. That form led to manager Lee Johnson being sacked following this game after spending four years at the club. It probably came as a shock to a lot of people as he has been a big part of the club over recent seasons.

On the other hand, Neil Harris is starting to win over his doubters who thought that this appointment was poor by Cardiff. He has drastically improved the away form on the way to helping the club to challenge for a place in the play-offs. It had been looking like an average mid-table finish for most of the season.

Since his appointment the Cardiff’s record has been one of the best in the league. The four games since returning have produced ten points which is a fantastic return and supporters’ hopes of finishing in the top six are increasing with each game.

One player that has impressed recently is midfielder Leandro Bacuna who was excellent on Saturday. He’s always looked better as a box-to-box midfielder. However, since returning he has played in a deep-lying midfield role, protecting the back four with composure and solidity. Whenever he got the ball on Saturday he was always effective and he was definitely one of the best, or possibly the best player on the pitch.

He’s taken time to fully hit the ground running since joining, but he is starting to look like a very good signing by former manager Neil Warnock. The midfielders are all complimenting each other well and are starting to form a good chemistry which is helping the team a lot.

There is still a lot of work to do just to finish in the top six, but with Harris able to name a similar starting eleven most weeks with very few changes, the team is starting to provide consistent results on the field. If we finish in the play-offs anything could happen. However it will still be tough as Brentford will probably be the favourites. That is if Brentford don’t go up automatically.

The run-in is very tough for the Bluebirds, with games against teams around the promotion picture in Blackburn, Fulham and Derby. Those games will be very challenging and we will need to be at our best to come out with good results. Then, there are games against Hull and Middlesbrough, who are now under former Cardiff manager Neil Warnock. Both teams are fighting against relegation so those games will also be very tough.

It will be interesting and exciting to see what happens between now and the end of the season. What we can expect is for the team to do all they can to finish in the top six and end the season with the play-offs. There’s still a chance of an immediate return to the top flight and that will be a fantastic effort from the team. There is certainly a lot to look forward to.

The next game is at the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday against Blackburn at 7:45pm. Blackburn have slipped up of late and are now eight points off the play-offs with very slim hopes of ending up in the top six. However, it will still be a very tough game and the Bluebirds will need to be at their best.